Kite Durand
Names, Titles, and Affiliations Kite Durand of Crimsonsun of Riverhall. Named herself after a common bird of prey at a young age of two. Nicknamed Ki at a young age because it was easier to say, a name she does let some call her put prefers her name long form. Later she is called ‘Cass’ because she is officially renamed ‘Cassendina Lakïth’ within the Pride which means ‘a swift hunter’. In real life the name means curly-headed. Over the course of her life gets called 'The Phoenix', once even 'The True Queen' something she absolutely flees. Appearance, Nationality, and Traits Kite is a fully Al’terrian born female on the island south of Tantus, technically not part of Tantus at all. Red hair is much more common here, though in men (a call back to ginger being a more common trait in toms than she-cats). Has classically slightly larger than average rich blue eyes, slitted as a cat’s, short and barely curled dark brown lashes, short and round tipped nose, relatively thick and mildly arched red/brown eyebrows, need little if any attention, high marginally exposed cheekbones, medium thick lips dusty pink and soft, defined and soft jaw line, medium high straight hairline, small ears with the left being slightly ragged on top, unpierced, light freckling over her nose and high cheeks, no significant scars, long auburn hair flecked with darker and lighter shades including some gold usually worn down (not poppy red), thick and rarely cut, part of her identity, pale skin that’s pink toned but healthy, easy to bruise and relatively smooth, pierces her hips later for amusement, tattoos her and timothy’s names into her neck again later in her life, later pierces ear for Pride work, generally built medium and compact, a little curvy, usually looks like her upper body is shorter but it’s longer than usually seen, short at 5’2, muscled legs, less in other places, light right handed calluses, decent physical condition but not normally athletic, in good health, slightly more sensitive to smell and quite observant, hypersensitive to touch, always been in good health so although rarely sick, she still bruises. Not allergic to anything, considered slightly prettier than average, insists on being clean, doesn’t have great stamina, walks with quick paces over the balls of her feet without unnecessary hip movement, doesn’t think much about her body early, gains self confidence after and is by all means confident, only physical strength would be her ability to go on and decent health, physical weakness is her lack of physical condition, supernatural parallel-feeling, wears fairly practical clothing and likes trousers, becomes accustomed to skirts but doesn’t like them much, doesn’t wear jewellery as a kid – no interest. What you should be struck with when meeting here is her red hair, a keen half smile that is presented tilted and an open body stance that is friendly but not intrusive. Language, Accent, and Voice Initially only speaks common, with the softer island accent which is not so different from Tantus as to noticed, which isn't as strong due to her place of birth. Since she moved ton Tantus, clips a few of her words with a stronger bunch of dentals sounds (treasure and dentist, as examples). Learns the Pride dialect of Al’terran by the Queen, speaks quickly and slurs when quick and excited, has dynamic in her voice, can just barely hum a tune, uses more personal slang, doesn’t curse usually at least in her younger years, speaks politely usually though sarcasm slips in more and more as she goes on. Kite has a good command of word play. Personality As the story progresses she goes from 15-19 or so, likes the color red, interested in learning especially maths and chemistry, horses interest her and become her task of choice when discouraged from her academic pursuits, talented dancer, spent her past times exploring, playing games, being in stables, asking questions, not artistically influenced, fear of water traced to her cat roots, has a habit of riding when unhappy later in series, life goals include freeing the powered children., enjoys both riding and reading, one of her pet peeves is not keeping one’s word and breaking trust, not a fighter but would rather pull a knife than not. Claustrophobic, favourite colour is red, has a natural gifting with horses. Hates olives, likes tea, a good dancer (especially solo), and a few war skills - she's a researcher, a reader. A good listener and processes, quite organized, no truly deep secrets, has a high sense of morals, introvert, has a witty sense of humour, deepest secret ends up being related to the realities of the factories, used to want to ride free in the mountains, now does fantasize over Tim (this tends to be private, but not shy), it takes not too much to embarrass her but she takes it well, strong leader, delegates naturally, overall seen as being a strong, creative in personality, has a long version of patience, has to respect authority but doesn’t enjoy it, makes head decisions in group, heart when its her own, communicates fairly well, quite confident especially later on, is a social creative, verbally witty, doesn’t like discussing Laura, deals with fear first inwardly then it shows outwardly, mature, mostly trust worthy, mild respect given though she is short and often silly, default mood is content to happy, fairly self controlled Negative traits: Sensitive and takes things personally, experiences and processes anxiety (poorly) because she's been put down so much in her life, can be embarrassed easily as she does take too much personally, has natural and naive prejudices she hasn't had to deal with, self-doubt, and strong notions of self-loathing, weaker at aural processing and does better with multiple explanation or written, poor short term memory Love languages: touch, time, words, gifts, services Insinuates she is not exactly a quiet woman and masturbates with some frequency - Timethy is always invited and joins 60% of the time. As expected, Kite is a bit of a wild animal at the Dance. She also initiates a lot of their physical contact. History Baby Kite was a curious, confident, extroverted child who enjoyed the company of others while taking to reading easily and intaking huge amounts of knowledge. While she has always had high hopes for her, when she moves to Tantus after nursery, none of these were realized. A lot of this energy is beaten out of her and converted to introversion and much less confidence. No one ever really believed in Kite for most of her life, at least from the time she moved into Tantus, and although she's clever, she has a very great fear of not living up to her potential - she experiences some anxiety about this which she is not well equipped to overcome. Her cleverness is routinely shut down and she struggles with any sort of showing off or using, to the point of self-doubt and self-loathing. This is how she clicks with Timethy who is just genuinely happy to have some one to talk to. She's particularly good at Chemistry and Maths and had dreams to run an apothecary or create her own remedies, but settles into horses and stables because she enjoys it as a past time, and she's never going to be able to ascend socially besides maybe dancing and poetry. Despite those things being socially accepted, she sneaks out to read books and gets caught eavesdropping, which is how she ends up at 28. Trespassed and accidentally eavesdropped on adults discussing who had been read and hadn’t picked up on exactly why (caught too soon) but when they plucked her, they read her and immediately drugged her before she could put all the pieces together. Found out that they are getting rid of kids with granting and has used various means to get rid of the granting because of all the magic that sprouts when the fviya go mucking in what they shouldn’t. She doesn't know what, just that the kids are being harmed. She’s found out, read, and shipped off drugged. She takes a bit longer to piece together how her knowledge is connected to the factories. Her knowledge is an accident, Timethy’s is oddly intended. Kite has always been full of potential - a recreational dancer, good at academic logic (chemistry, medicine, maths) and very curious, which annoyed too many people, although minor dyslexic enjoys art in the form of poetry. Her nature was beaten down regularly through her schooling because she should had gone places but because life is political, she was channelled into horse work, which she did love but thought was rather unfair. She was almost resigned to do that post-task but was self-teaching herself chemistry. When Kite comes back from her death, she returns and really appreciates life: wildflowers for instance, and tries to move flower through life. Gets seasick easily. After the events of the factories, after the resurrection and political involvement and the move south to Monshiez, Kite andTimethy spend a year figuring out their relaitonship, themselves, and setting up the farm. Once they do this, both get restless with a sense of survivors guilt,t aht they still haven't done enough for anyone. While Timethy decides to put his brain to use doctoring and paying back for the war he participated in so long ago, Kite tries several things: guest teaching at the Academy, rehabbing horses, asks Sam about political involvement, considers counseling and psychology, and emergency services - such is her desire to help people. They spend five years sorting themselves out and then get into a rhythm of their own pursuits (medicine/ horses) part time, then teaching part time, with overlap so sometimes they are teaching at the same time, sometimes out on their jobs full time. As they age up, they spend more time in Tantus, getting involved in politics, being nearer to Sam and the others, where Dee remembers more in her late teeanger hood. As they further age, the pair work on diplomatic measures abroad, settling for a period of time in Bien-High where no one can reach them. With age, both of them are sought out for wisdom Motivation Although Kite's obvious motivations are moral good, and to escape - a lot of what drives her is being able to be useful, for her life to finally fulfill the purpose that she desperately tried to study for and audition for and hasn't come her way. This is her chance. Her journey is about realizing self-esteem while Timethy's is more about self-confidence - they are foil stories. Later on, Kite's further life ambition is to 'be better' and 'do better' Relationships Born the fourth month of 15,891 AT in the middle south eastern region the southern islandr, the Crimson sun district and raised there. Father was an accomplished merchant between the extreme edges of the southeast and the major city, named Michael. Mother was a keeper, collector, and seller of bird feathers for fletching. They knew each other in business and the pairing was natural, though platonic and love-less. They knew about Kite for her first few years but didn’t much care, non maliciously. She has three siblings (Lewis♂, Skyrunner♂, and Ash), a twin(Megan), and a half sister(Atlia). Kite is the oldest, never knew any of her siblings. Her parents still live and do the same things in business. Really, her blood family is pleasantly unremarkable. Best childhood friends were Brighta (caught the spring cough although Kite never did), Grey, and Sam. They separated with schools except for Sam. They remained close. She was successful academically early on but was no good at any sort of sport. A decent rider and gifted dancer. Her friends were her largest influence, mostly positive, despite never getting to follow the path she should have. Influenced in the traditionally casual south east culture, born middle low class. Influenced by seeing a younger sibling in passing the serious injury of Brighta early on. No early sexual history, no serious regrets. Best and closest friend is Sam. Laura is close during the factories but is more being protected. Her ultimate pairing is Tim, and they might as well be bonded. He is her first and only love. They start out friends and progress to fully relationship. Key relationships are Sam, Laura, Nikki, Toby, Timethy, and the Queen. Never had a rival or enemy before Austin. Hates what is happening in the Pride government. Timethy Obviously the most significant relationship to Kite. This will be a bunch of incoherent notes. When she comes back after the factories, she appreciates a slower life including touching Timethy's hair quite slowly. Never do her and Timethy have a wedding, it's not an Al'terran thing anyways. Has a deep, and well defined love for Timethy and can reflect on it with good accuracy. They share mutual compassion and guilt complexes Education and Vocation She changes jobs several times in the book. Her childhood job was cleaning public buildings, rotating between the government building, the museum, and a financial empire. Mostly it was mindless, boring, lonely work. Some civilians, mainly common, talked to her, but it was cleaning and it wasn’t violent. She hated the work but it was required for ‘higher’ education. She wanted to do work riding horses. Upon arriving at the factories work as a coal miner: hated it. Did running and stablework to get by for a while before working as Sam’s legwork. She is then taken as a messenger in Pride work, in the Queen’s staff. Answers directly to the Queen and is in good favour with her. She has a good memory and runs quickly. Would have preferred horse work but it becomes a hero’s work.. A general warrant for her arrest goes out in TCM3. Was educated at Riverhall in Crimsonsun for her first give years, then more informal instruction upon moving to Garsford. No notable teachers. Several levels ahead in intelligence, liked learning, though education system is ineffective, very literate, generally left brained. Mostly on teahcing herself, Kite has a firm knowledge of modern Alchemy and Chemistry, allowing for several interesting tricks but not necessarily medicine. Dance Kite's dance is never solidly commented on before it being formed and molded by her last interaction with Timethy before the escape - this is implied to be a structured, formal dance she learned and was quite good at. Location Starting off on the island, she then lived in Crimsonsun (which is on the island of the sun valley) for her childhood and schooling, moved a few districts to Garsford for her job. Dwells in Factories for six months. After escape, wandered through Tantus always south through the west aiming for Crimsonsun, but only gets closer to the Pride, lived in a facility for works at Garsford but rarely saw it since she worked so much. Travelled the entire Pride and a lot of Tantus, but never further. Doesn’t care for travel, would rather live anywhere Timethy does. Actually born in Invidia under the Spires of Dem, a child of the sun valley technically that is on the island opposite Tantus. Ginger is the common hair colour there. Later in life owns a riding and training stable with Timethy. - he works in that variety of medicine. They live not far off of the Zavon stables which went up in flames. Moves, with Tim, to Monshiez in the West - it's a village where no one knows 'who' they are. They use their magic and talents to settle in quietly. Political Views Spirituality Holds no set religious beliefs, curious but never makes a clear stance. Leans towards multi-god, reincarnation, yet unaware theory, Not superstitious, not involved, fine with other beliefs. Kite is not first born (rumour) but a last born - she can be resurrected because her soul gets stolen out out of paradise. It's the only way to do it. Notable Possessions Not a posession, but smples in her later life. Horses on her farm: Something Elegant (Som), Grez, Wingfly, Peace, Nain, Outdance, Dance on Siilver, Raladesh, Struck at Noon, Storm Lining, Kemba, Remble, Dread the War, Silus, Rest Far Again, River Skirter, Princely, Sefton, Enoble, Broken Fascination (Broke), Zavon Fire. At somepoint, has 43 horses on the property. Board Other than being a column, nothing more is commented on it. It's implied to be basic, maybe pretty, Magic Her Power is double parallel sense, undiscovered until at the factories, grows stronger and partially controllable, useful in battle mostly, respects the Powers, doesn’t like magic in the Pride. Basically an Empath. What could she have been if she had been trained like Dee is? Flavour Previously both Kite David and Kite Daivs and Cassidy (from CT) Category:The Escapees